record low temperatures this morning. right now it's still very cold outside. in the 20s across the area. coming up, storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein will tell us the big dip in temperatures will come back again tonight. we'll ask him about that. these frigid conditions are making it hard on road crews. crews are still trying to clear out roads from yesterday's storm. they'll give us an update on the conditions out there. and a perfect way to get our minds off the cold and snow.

cherry blossoms. when they will be blooming. that information was released just minutes ago. we'll share it with you, coming up. good morning, everyone. welcome to news 4 midday. i'm barbara harrison, tuesday, march 4th, 2014. despite this morning's frigid weather, things are starting to get back to normal after yesterday's storm. the district lifted the snow emergency as of 9:30 this morning. federal workers are back on the job after a morning delay. let's start our coverage this morning with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. tom? good morning, barbara. we had record-low temperatures this morning for not only march 4th, but for the month of march at dulles airport. it got down to 1 below zero there. that sets a new record for this date for march 4th. bwi marshall got down to just 4 above zero, brand new record for march 4th. as we got very cold this morning, it was well below zero across parts of virginia. and along the potomac river,

there was enough moisture in the air to create a lot of frost on these trees, photograph near lovettsville, virginia, this morning. quite a scene there. sunshine through high clouds into the mid 20s in washington. nearby suburbs around 20 degrees, as is montgomery, fairfax county. culpepper got down to 7 below this morning. now it's 21 above. ta's warmed up 28 degrees in the last several hours and should make it up to around the freezing mark by mid afternoon. that's 20 degrees colder than average this time of year. barbara? >> thank you, tom. the cold weather could be to blame for a tractor trailer accident on the dulles toll road this morning around 6:30. chopper 4 got the video of this semi stranded by the main road and off ramp.

it's one of these accidents that turned out to be a slippery morning commute. chuck bell has been monitoring the sometimes dangerous roads in the storm team 4 by 4 all morning. chuck, how are the roads looking now? >> the big roads are fine, capital beltway and most of the numbered state roads are improving very rapidly. as you can see here the view outside the front of the storm team 4 by 4, when you get back in the neighborhoods, in potomac and, indeed, these little shadyside streets have been very hard hit by the ice and not very hard hit by road crews. as a result, these windy neighborhood streets, which obviously have the tightest turns and some of the steepest hills, will be the most treacherous to drive. going over some of the maryland highway information here on our lap top here in the vehicle, and road temperatures are still well below freezing. i can tell you, this strong march sunshine is really, really helping. montrose road early this morning before the sun came up was still

quite icy indeed. we just came back down montrosse road. enough solar radiation is getting through to hit that blacktop and do a good job melting the ice. obviously, some of these shady neighborhood streets will be the last ones to improve. once you get out of your drive way and out of your neighborhood things get much easier. the real challenge sometimes is just getting in and out of your own driveway. it is, indeed, an icy mess out here. storm team 4 by 4, we're at 22 degrees. long way below freezing. that sunshine getting through the clouds is helping to improve road conditions a lot. barbara, back in to you. >> we do have some frozen roads out there and frigid temperatures are keeping the roads icy in a lot of our region. melissa mollet has been driving around northern verge yain airg

morning and joins us now. >> reporter: manassas, manassas park as well and centreville now. this is a really good depiction of how neighborhoods look. mostly clear for the most part. most of the cars are kind of swept off. if you look down here on the roadways, yes, they were plowed yesterday. they were treated yesterday. still, though, an icy layer that really is just a mess. just when you thought those snow boots could go away for a while, when there would be no more school snow days, another arctic blast. >> doing fine. just cold. >> dustin tharp works for the city of manassas. 13 hours of shoveling and clearing yesterday and expects another long one today. >> making it easier for people to walk on. and clearing paths for the handicap ramps so people can get on and off the sidewalk. >> along 28 here tuesday morning, negative 2 degrees. brutally cold. roads and parking lots slick in

spots, some still slushy, snowy. chunks of ice making it hard to get around, especially if you're walking. >> icy. very icy. everywhere you go. >> some are really itching to get out. a moped for a sketchy ride to a laundrom laundromat. short but treacherous commute. >> it's nothing but a sheet of ice. >> and while some say they don't actually mind old man winter hanging around a bit longer than he should -- >> for me it's no problem. >> reporter: many hoping, praying this is our last bout, our last round with mother nature. >> i'm ready for spring. >> reporter: i am ready for spring as well. i think a lot of people are. now, again, if you are stuck at home with your kids today, i'm sorry if you're going crazy. here is another idea, something else you can do. a little bit of water, ice cube tray, food coloring. all you need to make some

colored ice cubes. why not hide those in the yard? let them go crazy, burn off some energy. it's an easter egg hunt not at easter. melissa mollet, news 4. back to you. >> keep those good ideas coming, melissa. thank you. a man is in mourning this morning. he is mourning the death of his 60-year-old wife who apparently suffered a heart attack while shoveling snow. she died in the hospital. it happened yesterday afternoon at her home on pavia court. the man yelled for help and two neighbors rushed over to perform cpr while emergency crews were on their way. metro buses are back in service today. buses are running on their usual routes. they may be taking some detours. metro wants to avoid steep hills and narrow streets. metro access service should resume at the top of the next hour, we're told. >> and you will be able to take marc and vre out of the district

today. both services will operate with their full schedules. amtrak says most of its trains will be running between d.c. and new york as well. and right now, almost 700 flights have been canceled across the country. live look at reagan national airport. 51 flights have been grounded. dulles canceled 35 flights and wbi canceled 13. questioning possible witnesses in an overnight murder. it happened outside a home on loughlin lane and silver spring. police responded to calls about gunshots outside the home. when they arrived they found a man dead in the driveway. meanwhile a man showed up at a local hospital also with a gunshot wound. police say the two incidents are related. they're questioning people inside the home at the time of the shooting. no one has been arrested. >> today, the trial of arthur gonzalez will begin. the fbi agent is accused of killing his estranged wife. gonzalez says he was defending himself when she attacked him last spring.

police say she was shot to death in gonzalez's north stafford home. the couple had two children together. and new on news 4 at midday, national park service just announced the cherry blossoms peak bloom will be april 8th through the 12th. organizers are also making plans for the cherry blossom festival. news 4's megan mcgrath is at the news conference right now. look for her live report at 11:30 this morning. the crisis in ukraine. coming up, the help the u.s. may soon provide that country's new government. plus, president obama is talking about his new budget this morning at a d.c. school. the tax credit he wants to provide for some parents. woah, this kitchen is beautiful!

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we're following a developing story in ukraine. secretary of state john kerry is in kiev right now. he is meeting with the new ukrainian leaders that deposed the pro-russian president. the trip is meant to send a message to russia that the u.s. supports ukrainian sovereignty. it coincides with a major u.s. aid announcement. angie goff has more. angie? >> big financial support behind ukraine. treasury secretary jack lew saying the white house is working to give a $1 billion loan package to the country. he adds that money is going to go towards economic reforms to get ukraine back on its feet. it will also help with planning elections. meanwhile also this morning, russian president vladimir putin warned that sanctions against his country would backfire on the west. he warned that russia is not trying to take over the crimea region in the ukraine. he ordered troops recently place there had to pull back. critical of ukraine's new

leaders, putin says that the fwost that ousted president viktor yanukovcyh is a coup. he says right now military force is not necessary. this is the first time we've heard from putin since russian troops took over the crimea region. back to you. >> thank you so much. we are waiting now for president obama to speak at a northwest d.c. elementary school, visiting powell elementary school. he's there right now. he will tour a class and speak about his 2015 budget proposal. it calls for a greater investment in education and expands the child tax credit for some parents. and we were there when president obama's budget arrived on capitol hill this morning. the white house says the proposal would adhere to the spending limits republican congressman paul ryan and democratic senator patti mirrory agreed to last december. many political analysts, though, do not think the budget will gain tonight. not nearly as cold this morning.

afternoon highs partly sunny tomorrow. some melting of the snow tomorrow and then again on thursday. each night we'll have refreezing and thursday morning could have some patchy ice from what melts and then freezes up again. thursday afternoon up around 40 again. friday in the morning, it should be near freezing. and maybe a little light rain after that. should be in the 30s. no freezing problems. afternoon highs mid 40s. mild for the weekend. might get a sprinkle and flurry. mild start to next week as well. barbara? >> tom, thank you. and we want to show you some pictures from the snow storm that you may not have seen. it may have been on your twitter feed or facebook news feed. these are some that we thought were particularly interesting. arlington national cemetery yesterday. the old guard presided over a funeral for army lieutenant colonel edward newman.